1) “Run-TMC”

Not-so-fun fact about Run-TMC: They were on the court together for only 147 games and the Warriors had a losing record in those games, at 73-74. Why then, has this grouping of Tim Hardaway, Chris Mullin, and Mitch Richmond endured as a cultural NBA symbol? The catchy nickname itself is a large part of it, chosen as the winner of contest run by the San Francisco Examiner and referencing the seminal hip-hop group Run-DMC. Frankly, it was also a product of Warriors fans being primed for any kind of excitement. From 1978, when Rick Barry left as a free agent, to 1989, when Run-TMC first played together, Golden State had made just two playoff appearances over 11 years, both of them early exits. The trio of young superstars were all drafted by the Warriors, starting with Mullin 1985, followed by Richmond in 1988 and Hardaway in 1989, the latter two added strategically to deploy Don Nelson’s up-tempo style. They were instantly a national fan favorite but the results on the court were mixed, at best. In their first season together, ’89-’90, the Warriors missed the playoffs altogether, with the young triumvirate slowly learning to co-exist on offense. ’90-’91 was a marked improvement, reaching the Conference Semifinals, but management was already losing patience. The front office made a rash decision in the summer of 1991, trading Richmond to the Kings for rookie holdout Billy Owens. The thought process made sense, as Owens theoretically could provide the post offense and rebounding presence the Warriors lacked, but in practice he failed to fully develop and Golden State slipped back into mediocrity by the mid ’90s.

2) “Triple J”

Run-TMC was not the only young trio of potential superstars who failed to gel in the ’90s. Soon after that Warriors team was broken up, the Mavericks assembled their “Triple J” roster, which not only fared worse than Run-TMC, but did so in much more spectacular and ostentatious fashion. The “J” in “Triple J” referred to Jamal Mashburn, Jason Kidd, and Jim Jackson, who were selected in the top five by Dallas in three consecutive drafts, starting in 1992. But this superteam was an almost immediate non-starter, due to injuries, in-fighting, and coaching instability. In their first season together, ’94-’95, Kidd earned Rookie of the Year but Jackson missed the second half of the season with an ankle injury and Dallas won just 36 games. ’95-’96 was somehow even worse, with Mashburn playing just 18 games due to a knee injury, Kidd feuding with coach Dick Motta, and Jackson resenting Kidd’s fame, as the Mavs slipped to a 26-56 record. Then things boiled over completely early in ’96-’97 season, when a supposed love triangle between Kidd, Jackson, and R&B singer Toni Braxton left both stars with bruised egos and trade demands. The Mavericks obliged and then some, shipping Kidd to the Suns in December, Mashburn to the Heat on Valentine’s Day, and Jackson to the Nets right at the trade deadline. With this superteam come and gone just like that, Dallas continued its lengthy playoff drought until 2001, when the franchise’s fortunes finally turned around under new owner Mark Cuban and new superstar Dirk Nowitzki.

3) “Doctors of Dunk”
4) “Phi Slamma Jamma”

Nicknames for great dunkers were just better in the late ’70s into the early ’80s. “Skywalker,” “Chocolate Thunder,” “The Prince of Mid Air,” “The High Ayatollah of Slam-ola.” Maybe it was just something in the air after the NCAA re-allowed dunking in 1976, rescinding the so-called “Lew Alcindor Rule” that had banned them for nearly a decade. Right as aerial acrobats were being legalized again, “Dr. Dunkenstein” had arrived on campus at the University of Louisville. The catchy nickname had been bestowed on Darrell Griffith by his brother as an homage to the George Clinton alter ego “Dr. Funkenstein.” With fellow high flyers Derek Smith, Rodney McCray, and Wiley Brown joining Louisville soon after, the “Doctors of Dunk” were born and took college basketball by storm. Led by coach Denny Crum (who was an assistant at UCLA when Abdul-Jabbar’s dunking caused the rule change), the Cardinals won 33 games in the ’79-’80 season and took home the first national title in school history. As Griffith subsequently took his high flying act to the NBA, a new group of college dunk kings were emerging in Houston. There, legendary coach Guy Lewis implemented a breakneck, frenetic offensive style for the Cougars, predicated on his two superstar recruits, Clyde Drexler and Hakeem Olajuwon. When sportswriter Thomas Bonk witnessed the aerobatic, above-the-rim display, he christened the team as “Phi Slamma Jamma,” coining maybe the most endearing nickname in college basketball history. Houston slammed their way to three consecutive National Final appearances but lost each time, most notably to NC State in 1983 in a monumental upset.

5) “Bad Boys”

Their initial nickname was “94 feet of defense,” a term conceived by coach Chuck Daly to describe the intense pressure he wanted his Pistons to enact on opponents. By the late ’80s, Detroit had crafted the ideal roster to fulfill this vision, populated with defensive-minded bruisers like Bill Laimbeer, Dennis Rodman, Joe Dumars, and John Salley. Floor general Isiah Thomas is supposedly the one who proclaimed their team as the “Bad Boys,” taking inspiration from the hard-nosed, anti-authoritarian Los Angeles Raiders of the NFL. (Raiders owner Al Davis was so honored by the distinction that he shipped a box of Raiders gear to Pistons training camp in 1988). Part of the “Bad Boys” moniker’s appeal was in its relation to the idealized public persona of Detroit, a city that defines itself as a quintessential hub of blue collar American toughness. The Pistons bullied their way to back-to-back titles in 1988 and 1989, shuttering the Celtics and Lakers ’80s dynasties in the process, while simultaneously delaying the ordained ascension of Michael Jordan’s Bulls. Injuries, aging, and free agency began to take their toll in the early ’90s but the “Bad Boys” identity has come to define Pistons culture indefinitely, peaking again with the 2004 title team that was buttressed by fervent defense.

6) “The Splash Brothers”

Though the Warriors were in the midst of a dry spell at the time, the Bay Area was arguably the hub of pro sports culture in the late ’80s. Joe Montana and the San Francisco 49ers were dominating the NFL, while the Oakland A’s made three consecutive World Series appearances, including one against the cross-town rival San Francisco Giants. The faces of that run of A’s success were Mark McGwire and Jose Canseco, a pair of power hitters extraordinaire, dubbed the “Bash Brothers.” A quarter century later, the Warriors were ascending back to the top of the Bay Area sports food chain thanks to the “Splash Brothers.” Warriors employee Brian Witt was the one to formulate that term for the sharpshooting duo of Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson. He first posited it during the ’12-’13 season, as a hashtag on a Twitter post lionizing Curry and Thompson’s shooting performance in a win over the Charlotte Bobcats. The nickname naturally took off, as Curry and Thompson’s prolific long range shooting came to define the NBA of the 2010s and led to four Warriors championships. The “Splash Brothers” era ended in the summer of 2024, when Thompson was traded to the Mavericks. In an appropriate denouement later that year, the Oakland A’s officially left town at the end of their 2024 season, taking up temporary digs in Sacramento before a permanent relocation to Las Vegas.

7) “The Dream Team”
8) “The Redeem Team”

The first known publishing of the term “Dream Team” dates back to a 1911 article in the Herald Palladium, a Michigan-based newspaper, in reference to University of Michigan football player Frederick Conklin’s theoretical position on a team of college all-stars. 80 years later, Sports Illustrated gave the term new life and new meaning and did so audaciously. A full seven months before the roster had even been assembled, the magazine ran a cover story with the headline “Dream Team,” speculating on which starting five would be on the floor for Team U.S.A. at the 1992 Olympics. That quintet was Magic Johnson (not yet retired), Michael Jordan, Patrick Ewing, Charles Barkley, and Karl Malone, who all posed on the cover in national team uniforms. Of course, all five of them did eventually join the roster that dominated the competition in the first Olympic tournament to feature NBA players. Sports Illustrated also correctly predicted Chuck Daly as the head coach, plus David Robinson and Chris Mullin as bench players, though they incorrectly prognosticated that Larry Bird would not participate. “Dream Team” was so instantly iconic, it essentially become the unofficial name of the U.S. men’s team for years, with “Dream Team II” representing the U.S. and cruising to a title at the 1994 FIBA World Cup, followed by “Dream Team III” easily taking home gold at the 1996 Olympics. But by 2008, the U.S. team was in need of a reclamation project and rebranding, having fallen short at the 2004 Olympics and 2006 FIBA World Cup. It’s unclear who first called the 2008 Olympic squad the “Redeem Team” but regardless of its origins, the name stuck like glue as Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony, and Dwyane Wade carried them to a gold medal in Beijing.

“Employing a run-and-gun offense fashioned by coach Paul Westhead and built around [Magic] Johnson’s otherworldly court vision and passing ability, the Lakers embodied “Showtime” on the court to match [Jerry] Buss’ Fantasmagorie all around it”

9) “The Twin Towers”

The Lakers seemed primed to cruise to their fifth consecutive NBA Finals in 1986 until a pair of towers stood tall in their way. That would be the 7’4″ Ralph Sampson and the 7’0″ Hakeem Olajuwon of the Rockets, who were back-to-back #1 overall NBA Draft picks of the team in 1983 and 1984. Dubbed the “Twin Towers” before they even took the floor together, the dynamic duo took the NBA by storm. Their Conference Finals upset of the Lakers in 1986 was a watershed moment but also ultimately the peak of this team, as Sampson was never the same after suffering an injury during the ’86-’87 season. A decade later, the Spurs landed Tim Duncan to pair with David Robinson and new “Twin Towers” era was born. Though they didn’t quite have the size of Sampson and Olajuwon (Robinson was listed at 7’0″ and Duncan at 6’11”), this Spurs pair well exceeded their success, winning NBA titles together in 1999 and 2003. A notable occurrence in between those titles was, of course, the terrorist attacks of September 11, which felled the actual twin towers, the World Trade Center in New York. The nickname waned a bit after that but continues on as a shorthand indicator for any two skilled big men on the floor together, most recently getting applied to the 6’11” Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen of the Cavaliers.

10) “40 Minutes of Hell”

Nolan Richardson made history in 1985 when he took the head coaching position at the University of Arkansas, becoming the first Black college coach of a major program in the U.S. South. He inherited a roster accustomed to playing conservatively on both ends of the floor, and shocked the system by immediately instituting an up-tempo approach on offense and defense. To hone his player’s conditioning, Richardson would start every practice with 40 minutes of cardio and endurance training, a length of time that matched the duration of a game. When one of his players called the experience “hell,” a nomenclature was born. “40 Minutes of Hell” became a nickname, an ethos, and a perfect descriptor of Arkansas’ style of play, all-out pressure on offense and defense to wear down opponents. It got off to a rough start, with a transitory roster finishing 12-16 in Richardson’s first year as coach. But as Richardson crafted his own roster over the next couple years, the Razorbacks began adopting “40 Minutes of Hell” to perfection, ultimately making three Final Four appearances over a nine-year stretch, including the program’s first national title in 1994. The nickname has remained a signature brand of Arkansas basketball, even long after Richardson left the program in 2002 and brought his style of play to the international game, coaching the Panamanian and Mexican national teams.

11) “Showtime”

Before he purchased the Lakers and The Forum from Jack Kent Cooke, Dr. Jerry Buss was a regular at a swank Santa Monica nightclub called The Horn. To commence the nightly performances from top notch singers and musicians side gigging from their usual Hollywood jobs, an emcee at The Horn would announce “It’s Showtime!” This phrase obviously stuck with Buss, who applied it to his new franchise when he became Lakers owner in 1979. The bombastic and canny real estate mogul instantly recognized the Lakers as just a pro sports franchise but a cultural touchstone of L.A., the entertainment center of the universe. His vision was to turn every Lakers game into a glitzy event, applying an enlarged version of his beloved nightclub culture and turning The Forum into a haven for movie stars, film execs, and other socialites of the city. Of course, none of this would have worked unless the product on the court matched the ethos, and in that Buss was uniquely lucky in landing a once-in-a-generation talent in Magic Johnson. Employing a run-and-gun offense fashioned by coach Paul Westhead (and later adopted and tweaked by his replacement Pat Riley) and built around Johnson’s otherworldly court vision and passing ability, the Lakers embodied “Showtime” on the court to match Buss’ Fantasmagorie all around it. “Showtime” also became synonymous with winning, as the Lakers took home five NBA titles in Johnson’s first nine years in the league.

12) “The Heatles”

Calling a trio of star basketball teammates a “Big Three” likely dates back to the early days of the sport but wasn’t particularly prominent until the Celtics assembled their dominant frontline of Larry Bird, Kevin McHale, and Robert Parish in the early ’80s. The first time we had “Big Three” in capital letters and quotation marks was another Celtics trio in 2007: Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett, and Ray Allen. The term became almost commonplace from there, essentially shorthand for any trio of All-Star level teammates. When LeBron James and Chris Bosh signed with the Heat in 2010, teaming up with Dwyane Wade, “Big Three” seemed almost insufficient in describing this potentially dominant roster. Even before they took the court together for the first time, nickname ideas were being thrown around but nothing really stuck. The closest we got to a legitimate nickname for that Heat era came early in their first season together, when James coined “The Heatles.” It was a reference to legendary rock band (though notably a quartet, not a trio) The Beatles, who drew oversized crowds wherever they toured. A similar phenomenon was taking place for the Heat, as fans across the country flocked to arenas to watch their team likely lose to Miami. Even notoriously detached fanbases like Charlotte got in on the action, and it was after a Heat road win over the Bobcats that James noted the connection and coined the nickname. It never really took off as a moniker but it was never really replaced by anything better, even as the Heat went on to four straight Finals appearances and two titles, so it endures mostly out of entropy.

13) “Fabulous Five”
14) “Fab Five”

The “Fab Five” of Michigan were a cultural phenomenon in the early ’90s, making headlines even before they took the court together, as one of the greatest recruiting classes in college basketball history. The headliners were Detroit natives Jalen Rose and Chris Webber, who were both considered top five prospects in the 1991 prep class, joined by five star recruits Juwan Howard, Jimmy King, and Ray Jackson. By the end of the ’91-’92 regular season, the Fab Five had taken over as Michigan’s starting lineup and ultimately became the first all-freshman starters to reach a National Final, capturing the public’s imagination with their talent, bravado, and signature baggy shorts. Of course, Michigan wasn’t the first first “Fab Five” in college basketball history. In fact, they weren’t even the only team of their era with that nickname, and the 1993 National Final was a battle of the “Fab Fives.” It had been previously applied to the much hyped 1990 North Carolina recruiting class. In the ’92-’93 season that quintet, headlined by Eric Montross, were all juniors and had taken over as the team’s core. They defeated Michigan in a close and controversial National Final, which marked the end of both Fab Fives, due to NBA defections. Both of those teams were carrying on a tradition that started way back in 1945, when University of Kentucky coach Adolph Rupp put together the “Fabulous Five” recruiting class. Featuring eventual All-Americans Ralph Beard, Alex Groza, and Wallace Jones, the Wildcats “Fabulous Five” reached the finals of the 1947 NIT (losing in an upset to Utah) and then won back-to-back NCAA Tournament titles in 1948 and 1949. While the Kentucky “Fabulous Five” far outpaced the Michigan “Fab Five” in terms of championship hardware, they also wound up having an even more controversial history. In 1951, Groza and Beard both admitted to throwing games during their time at Kentucky as part of the CCNY point shaving scandal. The duo were suspended for life from the NBA, while the Kentucky program got off relatively light. It was forced to sit out the ’52-’53 season but faced no further fines, sanctions, or punishments beyond that, and Rupp remained as head coach for another two decades.

15) “Jail Blazers”

The early ’90s were a peak era for the Trail Blazers but after trading Clyde Drexler to the Rockets in 1995, the franchise floundered in search of a new identity and a winning roster combination. Enter new general manager Bob Whitsitt, who earned the nickname “Trader Bob” for his predilection to engage in deals while working in the SuperSonics front office. Whitsitt opted to essentially set aside the concepts of team chemistry and culture, acquiring individual talents as if filling a Pokemon index. This devil may care attitude brought in quite a few players who could be charitably described as “trouble.” Surprisingly, this kind of worked at first, as a core group of Rasheed Wallace, Bonzi Wells, Damon Stoudamire, and Arvydas Sabonis led Portland to back-to-back Conference Finals appearances in 1999 and 2000, in spite of near constant roster turnover. But when the winning waned, the criticism grew, and the “Jail Blazers” era was born. Stalwarts like Brian Grant, Greg Anthony, Steve Smith, and Scottie Pippen were jettisoned, replaced by players with rap sheets in Rod Strickland (DUI), Shawn Kemp (drug possession), and Ruben Patterson (registered sex offender). Things fell apart swiftly from there, including, to wit: Stoudamire getting arrested for drug possession, Patterson and Zach Randolph having numerous locker room altercations (including one that ended with a fractured eye socket for Patterson), Qyntel Woods getting arrested for possession and then later for animal cruelty, Kemp checking into rehab for cocaine addiction, Patterson getting arrested for domestic violence, Darius Miles almost coming to blows with coach Maurice Cheeks during a practice, Sebastian Telfair possibly being connected to an attempted murder of rapper Fabolous, and, for good measure, Wallace getting arrested for drug possession (while in a car with Stoudamire). Whitsitt resigned in 2003 and his replacement, John Nash, fully dismantled the “Jail Blazers” roster within two seasons, sparking a new franchise revival built around LaMarcus Aldridge and Brandon Roy.

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